Arrangement in multi-deck driers with roller conveyors



Jan. 10, 1967 K. R LARSEN ETAL 3,296,713

NT IN MULTI-DECK DRIERS WITH RQLLER CONVEYORS ARRANGEME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filedi Aug. 7, 1964 iNVENTO RS -KURT ROLAND LARSEN HELGE BREKELL ATTYS.

Jan. 1967 K. R. LARSEN ETAL 3,296,713

ARRANGEMENT IN MULTI-DECK DRIERS WITH ROLLER CONVEYORS Filed Aug. 7, 1964 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTORE KURT ROLAND LARSEN HELGE BREKELL United States Patent 3,296,713 ARRANGEMENT IN MULTl-DECK DRIERS WITH ROLLER CONVEYORS Kurt Roland Larsn, Bromma, and Helge Brekell, Vaxjo,

Sweden, assignors to Aktiebolaget Svenska Flaktfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden Filed Aug. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 388,187 Claims priority, application Sweden, Aug. 7, 1963, 8,664/63; Mar. 19, 1964, 3,416/64 4 Claims. (Cl. 34-205) This invention relates to an arrangement in multi-deck driers and like apparatus for the treatment of sheet material or webs, comprising means in the form of roller conveyors with a plurality of double rollers for conveying the material to be treated, and distribution boxes mounted between the decks for the supply of the treating agent, said apparatus being constructed with a supporting structure comprising vertical posts connected with one another by vertically elongated horizontal beams.

In apparatus of the aforesaid type the double rollers of the conveyors were heretofore mounted in bearings common to each pair of rollers and comprising a fixed journal for the lower roller and an overlying forked guide bearing member for the vertically displaceable upper roller. Said bearings were carried by horizontal bearing supports mounted on the vertical posts of the drier structure. This type of construction rendered the access to the interior of the apparatus very diflicult, and in the event that the web broke or the sheets or plates were crushed, the removal of the damaged material was very troublesome and time-consuming due to the fact that the bearings of the rollers are placed in a very close relationship with one another, particularly at the starting end of each conveyor, and thus do not allow removal of the material in lateral direction. Furthermore, the free space in height between the conveyors was reduced by the beams required for supporting the bearings. Consequently, in order to provide sufficient space for supplying the desired amount of treating agent to the distribution boxes between the conveyors, the total height of the apparatus had to be increased, which was unfavourable for servicing.

The invention has as its object to eliminate the aforesaid disadvantages of the conventional constructions in a simple manner. The invention is characterized in that the horizontal vertically elongated beams are designed as framework beams manufactured of fiat iron bars and comprised of an overlying member and an underlying member connected by sloped struts. The said beams are constructed to serve as front walls for mounting said distribution boxes and are arranged in such a manner, that the overlying member is utilized for securing thereon bearings for the lower rollers of a conveyor and the underlying member is utilized for securing thereon bearings for the upper rollers of the underlying conveyor.

The invention will be described in greater detail in the following, reference being had to the accompanying drawing showing a multi-deck drier constructed according to the invention, and a bearing arrangement for the material conveyors of the treatment apparatus and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a vertical cross-section through the drier, and

FIG. 2 shows in a perspective view a portion of the roller conveyors of the drier.

FIG. 3 shows a bearing arrangement seen from the shaft ends of the rollers, i.e. at a right angle to the conveying direction.

FIG. 4 shows a partial view of rollers and bearings seen in the direction of conveyance, and

FIG. 5 shows in detail a modified bearing for the upper roller with the latter in its lifted and locked position.

Referring to the drawings in FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 desig- 3,296,713 Patented Jan. 10, 1967 ice nates the outer casing of a multi-deck drier comprising four roller conveyors 2 mounted above one another, each conveyor comprising a plurality of lower rollers 3 and upper rollers 4 between which the material 5 is advanced at the same time as a treating medium is blown against both surfaces of the material from a plurality of distribution boxes 6 mounted between the roller conveyors and provided with perforated wall surfaces 6a facing the webs.

The treating agent is circulated by a plurality of fans 7 placed in a partition wall 8 between a suction chamber 9 extending along one side of the conveyors and a return passage 10 located above the conveyors and opening into a pressure chamber extending along theopposite longitudinal side or" the drier. Said return passage 10 encloses the heating elements 12 required for heating the treating medium. 13 designates a damper-controlled outlet for conducting away part of the treating agent, while a corresponding amount of air from the atmosphere is supplied to the drier through an inlet (not shown). The control of this ventilating system renders it possible to maintain the desired condition of the medium in the drier.

According to the invention, the vertical posts 14 of the drier structure are connected by framework beams 15 made of flat irons and designed to serve as front walls for securing thereon the distribution boxes 6, said beams being arranged such that the overlying member 15a can be utilized for securing thereon bearings 16 for the lower rollers 3 of a conveyor and that the underlying member 15b is utilized for securing thereon bearings 17 for the upper rollers 4 of the underlying conveyor. The overlying and underlying members of the beams are connected by sloped struts 15c which also are made of flat iron bars and, thus, do not reduce appreciably the free space required for supplying the treating agent to the distribution boxes 6. Due to the arrangement of separate and individually supported bearings for the upper and lower rollers, the material to be treated can upon demand easily be removed from the apparatus by drawing it out in lateral direction. The side walls in the casing 1 are supposed to be constructed in the form of or be provided with the necessary number of doors which are easy to open.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 the lower bearing rotatably mounts the journal shaft 18 of the fixed lower roller 3, and the upper bearing 17 rotatably mounts the journal shaft 19 of the upper roller 4 which is movable in vertical direction. The upper bearing 17 is provided with a downwardly open fork-shaped recess allowing the journal shaft 19 to move freely in vertical direction. The two legs 17' of the upper bearing 17 are provided with recesses 20 rendering it possible to lock the upper roller 4 by inserting a rod or the like into the recesses when the upper roller 4 must be lifted for cleaning. For example, as shown in the upper run of FIG. 2, the locking means for the first roller comprises a fork member 22 adapted to engage in the two recesses 20 and the locking means for the remaining rollers comprise rods 22a adapted to engage in the outboard recesses 20. Each of the upper rollers 4 may be lifted and locked individually, but it is also possible to provide for arrangements for simultaneously lifting and locking a plurality of rollers. Such arrangements (not shown) may in principle be constructed in several different ways.

A modified upper bearing 117 is shown in FIG. 5 in place of the bearing 17 set forth above. In this hearing, the legs are provided with holes 121 into which a pin 122 may be inserted for locking the upper roller in lifted position.

In the drawings, the transported material is designated by 5. The lifting height marked in FIG. 5 by H is preferably made two to three times greater than the maximum thickness of the material to be treated in the apparatus. 15:: and 15b designate portions of carrying parts of the -removed in lateral direction.

treating apparatus for supporting the bearing arrangement.

The aforedescribed arrangement offers the great advantage of providing in lifted position of the upper rollers an entirely open space all along the side of the treating apparatus, through which open space the material can be In a veneer drier, for example, the cleaning-out of the damaged work after the occurrence of crushes is facilitated and a great part of the sheets involved in the crush can be taken out in a substantially undamaged and still usable state. In conventional arrangements, such sheets would become waste material.

What we claim is:

1. In multi-deck driers and like apparatus for the treatment of sheet material or webs, comprising means in the form of roller conveyors with a plurality of upper and lower rollers for conveying the material to be treated, said lower rollers being mounted in lower bearings and said upper rollers being mounted in upper bearings, and distribution boxes mounted between the decks for the supply of the treating agent, said apparatus being constructed of a support structure comprising vertical posts connected with one another by horizontal vertically-elongated beams, the improvement wherein the horizontal beams are designed as framework beams made of flat iron bars comprising an overlying and an underlying member connected by sloped struts, said beams being constructed to serve as from Walls for securing thereon said distribution boxes, said overlying member mounting thereon said lower bearings and said underlying member mounting thereon said upper bearings.

2. A bearing arrangement for treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lower bearings comprise fixed bearings and said upper bearings comprise downwardly open fork-shaped bearings enclosing the shafts of the upper rollers to afiord vertical displacement of the upper rollers between an operative position engaging said rollers and an inoperative position vertically spaced from said lower rollers.

3. A bearing arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that the fork-shaped bearings are provided with locking means for supporting the upper rollers in said inoperative position.

4. A hearing arrangement according to claim 3 wherein said fork-shaped bearings comprise a pair of depending legs having recesses therein, said locking means comprising an element adapted to be engaged in said recess to underlie the shaft of the upper roller to support the same in said vertically-spaced inoperative position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 814,938 3/1906 Carey 3471 1,447,836 3/ 1923 Collier et a1 34205 1,675,284 6/1928 Vance 34-205 X 2,767,485 10/1956 Holden 34-205 FOREIGN PATENTS 620,974 10/ 1935 Germany.

JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner.

A. D. HERRMANN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN MULTI-DECK DRIERS AND LIKE APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF SHEET MATERIAL OR WEBS, COMPRISING MEANS IN THE FORM OF ROLLER CONVEYORS WITH A PLURALITY OF UPPER AND LOWER ROLLERS FOR CONVEYING THE MATERIAL TO BE TREATED, SAID LOWER ROLLERS BEING MOUNTED IN LOWER BEARINGS AND SAID UPPER ROLLERS BEING MOUNTED IN UPPER BEARINGS, AND DISTRIBUTION BOXES MOUNTED BETWEEN THE DECKS FOR THE SUPPLY OF THE TREATING AGENT, SAID APPARATUS BEING CONSTRUCTED OF A SUPPORT STRUCTURE COMPRISING VERTICAL POSTS CONNECTED WITH ONE ANOTHER BY HORIZONTAL VERTICALLY-ELONGATED BEAMS, THE IMPROVEMENT WHEREIN THE HORIZONTAL BEAMS ARE DESIGNED AS FRAMEWORK BEAMS MADE OF FLAT IRON BARS COMPRISING AN OVERLYING AND AN UNDERLYING MEMBER CONNECTED BY SLOPED STRUTS, SAID BEAMS BEING CONSTRUCTED TO SERVE AS FRONT WALLS FOR SECURING THEREON SAID DISTRIBUTION BOXES, SAID OVERLYING MEMBER MOUNTING THEREON SAID LOWER BEARINGS AND SAID UNDERLYING MEMBER MOUNTING THEREON SAID UPPER BEARINGS. 